A previous report with an activity at the end.

2. The Visitation Of The Gods
Gilda Cordero Fernando

3. Gilda Cordero-Fernando
 born on June 4, 1932
 a writer and publisher from the Philippines. She was
born in Manila, has a B.A. from St. Theresa’s College-
Manila, and an M.A. from the Ateneo de Manila
University.
 has two collections of short stories:
The Butcher, The Baker and The Candlestick
Maker (1962) and A Wilderness of Sweets(1973).
These books have been compiled and reissued later
as Story Collection (1994).
 In 2001 she produced Pinoy Pop Culture, the book and
the show, for Bench.

4. Streets of Manila (1977)
Turn of the Century (1978)
Philippine Ancestral Houses (1980)
Being Filipino (1981)
The History of the Burgis (1987),
Folk Architecture (1989),
The Soul Book (1991)

5. Characters
: Ms. Noel - English instructor
 Mr. Sawit - new English Supervisor
 Mr. Alava - Superintendent
 Mr.Olbes - Pugad Lawin’s principal
 Mrs. Olbes - wife of Mr. Olbes
 Mrs. Divinagracia - HE instructor
 Mr. Buenaflor - Industrial Arts instructor
 Mr. de Dios - Physics instructor
 Mr. Baz - Nat’l Language instructor
 Ms. Santos - PE instructor
 Mr. del Rosario - Military Tactics
 Leon - student

6. Settin
gPugad Lawin High School
had made capital of its topography:
rooted on the firm ledge of a hill, the
schoolhouse was accessible by a series of
stone steps carved on the hard face of
the rocks; its west windows looked out
on the misty grandeur of a mountain
chain shaped like a sleeping woman.

7. INTRODUCTION
The letter announcing the visitation (a
yearly descent upon the school by the
superintendent, the district supervisors
and the division supervisors for
"purposes of inspection and
evaluation") had been delivered in the
morning by a sleepy janitor to the
principal. The party was, the attached
circular revealed a hurried glance, now
at Pagkabuhay, would be in Mapili by
lunchtime, and barring typhoons,
floods, volcanic eruptions and other
acts of God, would be upon Pugad
Lawin by afternoon.

8. RISING ACTION
The teaching staff and the student body
had been divided into four working
groups. The first group, composed of
Mrs. Divinagracia, the harassed Home
Economics instructor, the teachers of
Group Two had been assigned to
procure the beddings and the dishes to
be used for the supper, "Structuring the
Rooms" was the responsibility of the
third group, and the rowdiest freshman
boys composed the fourth and
discriminated group. Under the
stewardship of Miss Noel.

9. Climax
The visitation turns out well, but then when
the night came. Mr. Sawit, the new English
Supervisor asked Ms. Noel about the
evaluation. Frankly, Ms. Noel said that it
seems all the visitation were a farce or funny
play because the assessment were like
scripted. A visitation announced a month in
advance defeats the purpose for such an
activity, as was clearly shown in the story. It
gives the school administrators the
opportunity to prepare and hide the
infirmities of their respective schools. The
results are usually not reflective of the true
status and situation of the schools because
only the good things are highlighted while
the bad things are hidden. The whole activity
boils down to making an impression and
satisfying a group of assessors, who are
treated like gods by flattery and gift-giving.

10. FALLING ACTION
Ms. Noel realized that those who
sacrifice and dedicate their lives
for the good of the country
usually end up getting nothing
and having nothing, it seems that
all those years, she have been a
slave of the administration. In the
end, it’s always the children who
will suffer, as she looks to the eyes
of Leon who is very willing to
become a Lawyer someday.

11. RESOLUTION
At the end of the story, Ms. Noel’s
determination to teach students still is
in her heart. She knows that, there’s a
lot of factors that the teachers can give
to her students. And so, after breakfast
the next morning, the supervisors
packed their belongings and were
soon ready. Mr. Buenaflor fetched a
camera and they all posed on the
sunny steps for a souvenir photo: the
superintendent with Mr. and Mrs.
Olbes on either side of him and the
minor gods in descending order on the
Home Economics stairs. Miss Noel was
late - but she ran to take her place
with pride and humility on the lowest
rung of the school's hierarchy.

12. THEMES
“Determination is worth fulfilling.”
-Though, there are lots of people telling her to give up
teaching for more salary but then her willingness to
teach her students is priceless. She knows that, for the
children to achieve their dreams, the teachers guidance is
very valuable. In so, Ms. Noel’s determination succeeded.
“Death of Filipino idealism”
-It shows in the story is about the reality of the process of
death of Filipino idealism in the administration of public
schools. Also,the difficulties of sustaining one’s interest
and motivation in improving the standards of education
in the country.
“The Filipino’s mentality towards competition”
-The story also exposes the Filipino’s mentality towards
competition. Sometimes one’s pursuit for personal and
professional growth can be mistaken a threat to another
man’s job or authority. More likely, it would be
interpreted as “showing-off”. It’s like, good people in the
government are usually punished for doing their jobs,
while bad people are rewarded for doing things other
than their jobs.

14. Activity Time !

15. 1. What is the central idea of the
story?
2. What do you think the author
wants to convey in the story?
3. What is the conflict of the story?
4. If you were one of the teachers in
Pugan Lawin Highschool, what
would do and why?
5. What are your personal
reflections of the story.